Autism is diagnosed on the basis of three primary areas of impairment: social functioning, language and communication, and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests or activities (APA, 1994). Research on autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders suggests that the social and communication impairments are unique and specific deficits, that define the autism phenotype. In this context, communication refers to the full range of both verbal/linguistic and non-verbal (including gesture and intonation) means for interacting with others. In contrast, repetitive behaviors and interests are also found among individuals with other neurodevelopmental disorders such as fragile X syndrome (e.g., Hagerman, 1999; Mazzocco & Reiss, 1999), and may emerge somewhat after the social and communicative deficits are already apparent (Cox et al., in press; Stone et al., 1999). What is the nature of these defining social and communication features in autism? Are the two separable or are there overlapping features that are used to diagnose social and communicative impairments in autism? To what extent may they be interpreted as being part of the same underlying deficit? In this paper I address these questions from the perspective of a psychological model of autism, which posits that the social and communicative impairments reflect fundamental difficulties in understanding other people as mental beings – the so-called “theory of mind” hypothesis of autism. Evidence for this view is presented with particular emphasis on the research that explores the relationship between language, communication and theory of mind in children with autism.

Continue to read Helen Tager-Flusberg Ph.D’s paper

Mum: What do you want me to do?
Child (aged 2;2): Put back hat on.
Anyone who has listened to the speech of small children knows that it is full of simple and often rather endearing errors of this type. But are they really errors? They may be wrong if we compare them to the adult model but they are common in the speech of children of this age. Children’s communication skills must always be seen in the context of what would be expected for the child’s age. This is obvious when we are listening to two-year-olds but it is also relevant when we are considering the older child relative to his or her peers. The type of error illustrated above is to be expected in the language of a child of that age but would be inappropriate in that of a monolingual seven-year-old. Care has to be taken to distinguish between speech and language. The term `speech’ should be confined to the speech sounds themselves. As a generic term it is helpful to use the term `communication’ and see it as made up of a web of intersecting skills of which speech is one. Separating out communication skills in this way helps to identify the child’s strengths and weaknesses across a range of skills and this is important for the purposes of both diagnosis and treatment…..

Continue to read James Law’s Book

Many children with an Autism or Aspergers diagnosis have
semantic-pragmatic type language difficulties.
Children with semantic-pragmatic language difficulties find it
hard to see how new information is related to what they already
know.
Children with semantic-pragmatic disorder find it difficult to ‘see
the whole picture’. They tend to see similar events and facts as
unrelated and therefore have problems forming concepts.
What do ‘semantic’ and ‘pragmatic’ mean?
Semantics is the study of words and their meanings. Normally
children develop an understanding by watching, listening,
reasoning about and making links between new and existing concepts…

Continue reading ICAN’s Information Sheet

Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder was originally defined in the literature on Language Disorder in 1983, by Rapin and Allen, although at that time it was classified as a syndrome. They referred to a group of children who presented with mild Autistic features and specific semantic pragmatic language problems.

In babyhood, parents often described them as model babies or by contrast babies who seemed to cry too much. Many of these children babbled little or very late and went on using ‘jargon’ speech much longer than other children of the same age. Their first words were late and learning language was a hard slog. Some had other speech disorders too. Problems were usually first identified between 18 months and 2 years when the child had few if any real words.

Many parents wondered if their children were deaf at first because they did not appear to respond to speech. Assessment found that most children had good hearing, although some did have otitis media and had grommets fitted to ensure maximum hearing.

The problem usually proved to be one of listening and processing the meaning of language instead. Many of the children ignored their names early on but would hear the telephone or the door bell and even respond to the rustle of a sweet paper. Early on in their lives, Semantic-Pragmatic Disordered children were found to have comprehension problems finding it difficult to follow instructions which were not part of the normal routine. Comprehension problems usually improved or responded well to speech therapy so that by the age of four years, many of the children appeared to be functioning superficially, very well.

By the time these children reached school, staff and parents were aware that there was something “different” about them, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on it. Sometimes the children would appear to follow very little conversation,while at other times they could give a detailed explanation of an event. Later on in school they were often good at maths, science, and computers but had great difficulty in writing a coherent sentence or playing with other children. They were also unable to share and take turns. They could appear aggressive, selfish, bossy, over confident, shy or withdrawn. Many, therefore, were singled out as behaviour problems and subjected to behavioural regimes which did not always work and left the child confused about what he was supposed to be doing. As one 6 year old Semantic-Pragmatic Disordered child said to his mother, “I don’t want to be naughty”.

Continue reading Margo Sharp’s Article……..